Class Notes
Chapter 4
The Flowering of Religion
Preview Chapter 5 Buried ships, Arthur and knights of the round table, Pilgrimages, courtly love, begin
reading Gawain and Marie de France
This chapter discusses the intersection of three great religions.
The Rise of Christianity
 can be best understood in the context of Jewish history. (diasporia)
 Paul and The Sermon on the Mount (“a masterpiece of rhetorical persuasion” )
 Old Testament prefigured events in the New Testament
 Typology = a type for Christ (see figure 4.4 page 103)
 Nicene Creed, a long way from Aristotle’s philosophies
 Hymns become important
 Saint Jerome translates the New Testament into Latin (342-420 CE) The Vulgate
 Constantine moves capital from Rome to Constantinople. What to do with non-Christian art? What
about the Iliad and the Odyssey? Greek and Roman art? Augustine had the answer (354-430 CE). His
Confessions became one of the most influential books of the Middle Ages.
 Hagia Sophia Built by Constantine in Constantinople
 Reverse perspective. What is it and where do you find evidence of it?
The Rise and Spread of Islam
 Muhammad; beginning in 610 CE begins receiving what he claims are messages from God; memorized
and dictated to scribes
 Qur’an; believed to be the direct word of God, cannot be modified, let alone translated
 The importance of Calligraphy and writing; connections to art and buildings.
 Five pillars: Shahadah (There is no God but Allah-- Muhammad is the messenger of Allah); Prayer;
alms; fasting; Haji (pilgrimage to Mecca)
Buddhism: “The Path of Truth” (from last chapter)
Buddha 563-483 BCE
 Suffering of all human begins troubles him. Meditated for six years.
 Source of human suffers=desire for material things.
o Four Noble Truth (includes Eightfold Path)
 Dharma, bodhisattvas
Ashoka 273-343 BCE (the cruel Ashoka > the pious Ashoka)
 Erected at least 3,400 shrines and monuments to Buddha
 Stupa
Buddhism spreads to China
Ramayana of Valmiki
Indian literature; epic poetry; comes from a long oral tradition; written down by Valmiki in 200 BCE
 Ravana= did not become part man. Evil, “demon,” ok to destroy
 Rama (Raghava) = part god/ part man. The ideal male, ideal warrior. “Be like Rama, not like Ravana”
 Sita (Saumitri, Vaidehi, Maithili) = the ideal female
Know the major characters so that you can discuss them in relationship to some of the questions above.
Questions for thought:
 How is Rama like or unlike Gilgamesh or Odysseus?
o This leads to the bigger question. How are Rama’s god’s different from Odysseus’s gods?
o What does this tell us about a culture’s belief system?
 Material goods? Family? Power? Hierarchal orders? War? Animals?
 What obstacles does Rama encounter? Are they similar to the obstacles that Gilgamesh encountered?
 How is Penelope similar to Sita? What do we learn about the culture’s attitudes toward women?
 What do we learn about “duty” from Rama, Laksmana, Dasharath? What is dharma for this culture?
 How is Indian “dharma” different from Greek “arête” and from the “civilized” Gilgamesh? How do
these ideals contrast to your own personal definition of “dharma” and “arête”?
 How is civil order maintained in these cultures?
 What part does art (sculpture, music, literature) play?
Summary
Dasharatha owes one of his wives, Kaikeyi, a couple of boons. She tricks him into making a rash promise.
Rama is banished for fourteen years. Sita and Laksmana (Rama’s brother by another mother) go with him.
Raksasa fool Rama. Sita begs Laksmana to “rescue” Rama. Sita is kidnapped by Ravana. Rama kills Ravana,
rescues Sita. Sita must pass the “trial by fire.” Rama and Sita live happily ever after.
Quotes
“Your chest is arches, raised as high as your shoulders, and down below your waist, with its lovely navel, seems
as if it had grown thin in envy of it. Your girdle-belt beautifies your hips and sets them jingling. Your legs aer
set strong under you, while your feet are long. With your wide buttocks, Manthara, and your garment of white
linen, you are as resplendent as a wild goose when you go before me.
“The guileless old man saw her on the floor, that guileful young wife of his, who meant more to him than life
itself.He began to caress her affectionately, as a great bull elephant in the wilderness might caress his cow
wounded by the poisoned arrow of a hunter lurking in the forst”
And, as he caressed his lotus-eyed wife, with his hands, sick with worry and desire, he said to her:
“I do not understand, my lady, why you should be angry. Has someone offended you, or shown you disrespect
that you should lie here in the dust, my precious, and cause me such sorry? . . . Is there some guilty man who
should be freed, or some innocent man I should execute? The one shall find favor at once, the other incur my
lasting disfavor” (888-889)
“I should not wish to live an instant if his majesty, the great king, my father, were angered by my failure to
satisfy himor do his bidding. . . At the bidding of the king, if enjoined by him, my guru, father, king, and
benefactor, I would hurl myself into fire, drink deadly poison, or drown myself in the sea” (893)
“ I have but one concern and that is righteousness. Whatever I can do to please this honored man I will do at
any cost, even if it means giving up my life. For there is no greater act of righteousness than this: obedience to
one’s father and doing as he bids. Even unbidden by this honored man, at your bidding alone I shall live for
fourteen years in the desolate forest” (895)
“This is the nature of women the whole world over: Women care nothing for righteousness, they are flighty,
sharp-tongued, and divisive” (899)
“I am he who terrifies the worlds, with all their gods, asuras, and great serpents. I am Ravana, Sita, supremem
lord of the hosts of raksasas. Now that I have set eyes on you, flawless, golden lady dressed in silk, I shall no
longer take any pleasure in my own wives” (904)
“I am faithful to Rama, my husband, the equal of great Indra, unshakable as a great mountain, imperturbable as
the great sea.” I am faithful to Rama, the great-armed, great-chested prince, who moves with the boldness ofa
lion, a lionlike man, a lion among men (904).
“All creatures that live in this place, I appeal to you for help, all you flocks of birds and herds of beasts: Tell my
husband that the woman he loves more than life itself is being carried off, that Sita has been carried away,
helpless, by Ravana” (909)
“Once the arrow had accomplished its purpose in killing Ravana, it obediently returned to its quiver, glistening
with its still-wet blood” (911).
“In wiping away this affront, Sita, I have accomplished all that a man could do. . . Please understand that I did
not undertake this great war effort. . . on your account. Instead I did all this in order to protect my reputation
and in every way to wipe clean the insult and disgrace to my illustrious lineage. Since, however, your virtue is
now in doubt, your presence has become as unbearable to me as a bright lamp to a man afflicted with a disease
of the eye” (913).
“When she had spoken in this fashion. Vaidehi reverently circumambulated the fire, eater of oblations. Then
she entered the blazing flames, with a fearless heart. The vast crowd assembled there, filled with children and
the aged, watched as Maithili entered the fire, eater of oblations. As Sita entered the fire, a vast and prodigious
cry of, ‘Alas! Alas!’ arose” (915).